There is no redemption in Othello. Shakespeare has provided no late opportunity to undo what has been done, no chance to make amends for the terrible wrongs lavished upon the innocent, and no way for the audience to feel anything but horror for the treachery that has filled the stage for two and a half hours.

That such a series of betrayals could be orchestrated by one man so lacking in remorse that his final words of explanation are merely that he will give no explanation speaks to how calculated Shakespeare’s choice is to leave the audience without closure. An unrepentant Iago (Richard Thomas) denies a devastated Othello (Blair Underwood) the one thing he desperately seeks to know – why – by saying, “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word.” And when Thomas delivers those final words calmly, coolly, without even looking at him, it is enough to give you chills. More